Sing the Protest Music Again

The year 2525 is still a long way off, but warfare that the song In the Year 2525 talked about is still consuming human beings and their money.  The question remains, will man still be alive in 2525.  I am not a prophet now the son of one, but it seems fitting to me that the protest songs of the 60s and 70s find a rebirth.

Bob Dylan could “see through the masks” of those who plotted and planned wars and he told them so in Masters of War way back in 1963 before the Vietnam war really got cranked up.  He saw the war masters as only building to destroy.  Then, as now, they fasten triggers for others to fire.

Pete Seager wrote and the Kingston Trio sang “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” We still have not learned.  The flower keep going to soldiers and the soldier to graveyards.  I so remember seeing young people tossing flowers and we are back to young people heaving ammo at unseen enemies.

Buffy Sainte-Marie wrote and Donovan made popular the Universal Soldier.  Seventeen or thirty-one, they have been fighting for a thousand years, it seems.  We know that we should not kill, yet will we kill forever?  My, oh my, when will all the madness end?  Must the human race end first? War absolutely cannot be ended by war!

Oh, man, Stevie Wonder told Nixon what we must tell officials today when they speak of minor adjustments and repositioning of troops “You Haven’t Done Nothin.” The officials need to ‘take our cue’ in this age too.

It is time, way over time, to join John Lennon and sing and preach “Give Peace a Chance”

We may not be on the Eve of Destruction, but who am I to doubt Barry McGuire.  We hear and see the bombs going off everywhere.  Is our blood as mad as his?  A hand full of senators aren’t putting an end to war.  We have returned after 40 some odd years and “it is the same old place.”

I am telling you, we should sing the protest songs again.  I am and will.  Join me.

Re-cycling: Boomers and Road Biking

Join the re-cycling craze.

Boomers are into health, or at least we should be. Cycling is one of the best and most enjoyable exercises for boomers.

If your re-cycling, that is beginning to cycle again, the good news is that the re-learning curve is not very difficult. If you’ve not straddled a bike since the sixth grade, I promise that you have not forgotten how to ride.

Most of us like to be outdoors. Cycling is possibly the easiest outdoor exercise to sustain for the rest of our lives.

I used to be a runner. No other exercise seemed to be as rewarding or challenging for me. After all I had been running ever since I was 14, that is ahhhhhh, 48 years. No wonder my knees, ankles and hips began to give me trouble over the last year or so. I purchased a bike, and began to spin around the neighborhood. After just a few weeks I was up to ten miles every other day. I love it, even more than running. Most of my pain is gone, and I retrieved something I lost a long time ago with running: I can hear the wind blow by my ears as I ride.

I am really a re-cycler. Back in 1960 I purchased a ten speed from which I delivered newspapers for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune for a couple of years.

One of the first things I learned when beginning my re-cycling campaign was that bikes have changed over the years. Oh sure, you can still get a three speed, but don’t be afraid of bikes with 15 gears or more speeds. Manufacturers improved the shifters. They are very simple to shift. The wider range of gears prevent you from hurting your knees, which happens when you are forcing the pedals to turn in too tough a gear. You can get bikes with many, many gears. Mine has 24.

If you are just setting out to buy a bike you might be overwhelmed the huge selection. If you live in a larger town, or do a lot of shopping in one, I recommend that you find a bike shop that rents bikes. Backroads, Butterfield & Robinson, VBT and Timberline all rent excellent bicycles and will adjust them to your dimensions. Find something you like and give it a try for a few weeks. If you have the urge to buy one right away, then please stay away from used bikes sold in yard sales. They are often in disrepair and will discourage you about the whole ridding enterprise.

Here are a few buying tips from an expert.

If you have not biked in years, make sure that you have had your sight and hearing checked, or at least have the confidence that all is well in those departments. Also, you must be able to be flexible enough to look back over your shoulder. It would also be a good idea to look up the current laws and rules in your area that relate to bicyclists and sharing the road. One rule that is true everywhere: when riding on the roads bicycles are required to ride on the right (in the USA), with traffic, not against it.

There are some accessories that you should look into. First, you need a helmet. Who cares what it looks like. You are not a kid anymore. Matter of fact, it is chic for an adult to be seen wearing a bicycle helmet while riding. Bike shorts with liners make it a lot more comfortable sitting on those narrow, road bike seats. I suggest you get some padded ridding gloves as well. They give you you a surer grip and absorb some of the shock. They, too, are in. All these can be purchased at most sporting goods stores.

If your bike does not already come with them, I would purchase brackets for holding water bottles. Hydration is very important. Get a bottle that fits in the bracket. You might want to buy some energy bars or gels, the real stuff, not snack food or breakfast bars. The real stuff really works.

There organized bike trips for all ages, some that appeal to seniors — including those offered by Senior Cycling, subtitled Old Folks on Spokes. Their series of guided tours average between 30-40 miles per day.

I am here to tell you that having been a runner, a long distance runner, to start serious biking at 62, it feels pretty good. I am thinking of competing soon.

Neighborhoods with bike paths or trails have a higher resale value than comparable ones without. So, if they are in your neighborhood, you are paying for them, so you might as well use them. If your neighborhood is missing such paths and trails, talk to your neighbors and local government officials about putting some in and you will probably contribute to saving the environment to boot.

Bottom line, cycling is one of the best exercises to take up later in life and senior cycling can greatly increase levels of fitness and resulting ability to enjoy life.

Get on a bike and go for a spin.

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By the way, if you like the subject matter of this blog, and would like to write an article, just let me know at editor@60sfolksintheir60s.com.

Important Culture Changing Films of the 60’s

Films often mirror society, but in the 1960s many films pushed society’s fringes into the lives of the multitudes. For sure some the the 60s films were for shock value only, such as Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963).

Then there were, of course the love stories like Splendor in the Grass (1961), Cleopatra (1963), and My Fair Lady (1964). As a side note
in July of 1961, TWA Airlines was the first to offer in-fight movies with the showing of By Love Possessed (1961), starring Lana Turner during their NYC to LA flights, with a Bell and Howell projector aimed at a screen.

None of the above films really shaped society as much as my short list of mover and shaker movies below. While all the rerun TV show are airing for the the summer, these might be some good remembrance viewing.

Easy Rider
The Graduate
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Alfie
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
I Love You Alice Toklas
Alice’s Restaurant
Deer Hunter
Getting Straight (fitting for at the close in 1970)
Woodstock (1970)

What would you add to the list?

Wavy Gravy – “Breakfast in bed for 400,000″

“What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000,” said Wavy Gravy to the Woodstock attendees.   This statement exemplifies the service and comical spirit of the man.

Wavy was the “official clown” of the Grateful Dead. He continues to be a clown, activist, teacher of the arts, and, I guess you could say, one of living icons of Woodstock and the hippie spirit.

Wavy Gravy was born Hugh Nanton Romney on May 15, 1936.   In 1965, he married actress and former Bob Dylan girlfiend Bonnie Beecher in 1965.  They are still together today.

Wavy is the most celebrated member of the Hog Farm, who some consider to be oldest running hippie commune in the United States.  The Hog Farm originated on a collective hog farm in Tujunga, California, but it moved around to New York, Berkeley, and then to the Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, California where it resides today. They also stayed for a time at their Llano, New Mexico site.

Hog Farm used to host the annual Pignic, which has been superseded other events in Laytonville like The Earthdance Festival.

Some say that if the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Weather Underground were the most politically radical groups of the counterculture, the Hog Farm must have been the comic relief.  Wavy Gravy has, in fact, been a professional clown for most of his adult life.

While the Hog Farmers were in New York they were recruited by the Woodstock Festival organizers to build fire pits and trails at the festival site.  Wavy Gravy and his comrades asked for and got permission to provide a free kitchen, too.  Most likely because of their role at the 1968 Democratic Convention protests (see my Chicago 7 article), they were, just a short time before the opening, asked to provide the ‘in-house’ security for Woodstock.  Gravy named his security force the “Please Force,” because they would ask people to ‘please’ do this or that, instead of ordering them.  A reporter asked him what tools his men would carry.  Always the clown, he answered, “Cream pies and seltzer bottles.”  Wavy Gravy and his commune buddies also helped man the “freak-out” tent for people suffering bad acid trips.

Just a couple of weeks after Woodstock, the Hog Farmers were called upon to helped keep the peace between the cowboys and the hippies at the Texas International Pop Festival in Lewisville just north of Dallas. It was at this festival that renown blues legend B. B. King gave Romney the name Wavy Gravy.

Today, Wavy Gravy works with his international development organization Seva Foundation, which is dedicated to ending poverty around the world.

There were several celebrations of Wavy’s 70th birthday in 2006.  The Berkeley community gave, among other things, a multimedia tribute to him that contains many never before seen photos and writings.  See the presentation below.

Wavy Gravy’s legacy continues.  He directs the Camp Winnarainbow (a circus and performing arts camp) in Laytonville, California.  Each year the camp puts on Camp Winnarainbow Adult Camp, which would make an outstanding vacation for those interested in learning more about making people laugh.

Also see:

40 page biography written for the occasion of Wavy Gravy’s 70th birthday, by Edward Sanders.

Saint Misbehavin: The Wavy Gravy Movie

First Vaccine for Cancer – Another Baby Boomer Milestone in Medicine

April 29, 2010 the FDA approved the first cancer vaccine, Provenge (PROH-venj).  Provenge was researched, developed and now marketed by Dendreon to fight prostate cancer.  One more milepost that we Baby Boomers have witnessed in our life time.

Now, before you get too excited, Provenge will not save Baby Boomers and the generations that follow from Prostate Cancer, but it is designed to stimulate a patient’s own immune system to target prostate cancer cells.  Provenge is made by the  introduction of a patient’s immune cells to a protein that functions as a prostate cancer-associated antigen that causes the body to react with an immune response. This process activates the patient’s immune cells against prostate cancer cells to help the immune system better fight the disease.

I am not a medical professional, but that does not stop me from getting excited about a new breakthrough in the treatment of a prime killer of Baby Boomer men.  Here is what a couple of real life medical heads say about Provenge.

So, the next time you have to bend over for the doctor, remember men, there is more hope than ever to fight what they find sooner or later in most of us.
















Free Clinics – 60s Healthcare Experiment Still With Us

Haight Ashbury Clinic is an example of the kind of medical care this country needs to improve the health of the uninsured.  The Free Clinic was born out of concern of some visionary citizens. It provided free medicial treatment for the hippies and flower children at the womb of the Summer of Love in The Haight.   Not only did they find doctors who were experts in their most profound aliments, the waiting room was warm and inviting to their community as captured in Alain Dister photo above.

On June 7, 1967, Dr. Dave Smith brought his vision of service to life when he opened the Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic in San Francisco, CA on Haight Street as a response to the medical needs,  of the multitudes of young people who gathered in San Francisco for the Summer of Love.   Smith a medical, research scientist in the 60s saw the need for compassionate healthcare.  City twice rejected Smith’s proposal for the city to establish such a clinic.  With his small inheritance, a meager staff, and  the mantel Director he began to serve ill and addicted.

This first Free Clinic spawned at least 70 Free Clinics around the country between 1967 and 1969.  Some place the current role of free clinics to be close to 2000.  Sadly, less than 10 of the original seventy still remain.

Smith served as President of the clinic for 39 years, since its inception. He stepped down President of the clinic in February 2006 over differences with the current Clinic administration.  Smith was disgruntled with the clinic “identifying with the establishment.”

The Haight Ashbury Free Clinic continues to operate today serving the homeless and those without without adequate health insurance.

The Haight Ashbury Free Clinics, Inc. is an associating of free health care service provider serving more than 34,000 people in Northern California.  As the name attests, these clinics are closely linked to the mother free clinic.  The Clinics are currently composed of four core programs: Medical clinic; Substance abuse treatment services; Jail psychiatric services; and Rock medicine.

George “Skip” Gay founded the heroin clinic and drug detoxification unit at the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic.

Frontline aired its PBS documentary of the 20-year history of the HIV epidemic, it featured the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic as the one of the first places where the virus and its complications were noticed. The clinic has always been on the “street,” hearing the hoofbeats of whatever social and medical problems arise, and it has often been the first to respond. The clinic continues to maintain a large, comprehensive program for patients infected with HIV, using its resources to provide acupuncture, mental health services, detoxification and rehabilitation services, and case management to the hundreds who would otherwise be passed by.

The Free Clinic celebrates its 43 Anniversary next month.  True to its origin, rock bands will feature in the fund raiser it will be host at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall.

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Two Magical Substances That Allow You To Burn Fat Faster & Create Lasting Health

By Rob Poulos, Fat Loss & Fitness Expert & Creator of ‘Fat Burning Furnace’

In all of my experimentation and research on the subject of nutrition for fast fat burning, health and fitness over the last 10+ years, I’ve discovered 2 magical substances that can have a dramatic effect on whether or not you burn body fat and keep it off, or hang on to it like a security blanket.

These substances, in fact, have been around since the beginning of time and I’m surprised more people don’t value their importance like they should.  What are these magical agents of fat burning wizardry? Water and Fiber.  Let me explain why…

Fat Burning

Everyone has heard that water is important for health, but even still, most people don’t drink enough water.  Water is also vital to your fat burning efforts and maintaining a lean body.   After all, our bodies are about 65-70% water.  Water also keeps you from snacking on unhealthy sugary foods and sugar laden soft drinks, as many times when we feel we are hungry, we are actually just dehydrated.

We need water in our bodies more than we need food.  The body can survive for much longer without food that without water.  Water is like the oil in the engines of our cars. It is involved in almost every process the body goes through, from digestion to nutrient absorption.  It also keeps your energy level up as it prevents dehydration.

Now, this is very important…dehydration will totally kill your chances of burning fat, because the body interprets this as a state of shock. It shifts its focus on getting water and stops doing other things, like burning body fat for energy.  And here’s even more helpful info about the power of water.  Try this little trick to burn even more calories…try and drink most if not all of your water in ice cold form.

First of all, it typically tastes better ice cold, and every time you drink an ounce of ice cold water, your body must burn about a calorie in the process of warming the water to your current body temperature. Now, you can use this to your advantage to burn even more calories each day.  Keep your water intake to 100 ounces per day,  and you’ll burn an extra 100 calories and burn more fat!  How cool is that!

Also, add some lemon to your water…this will have positive effects in helping cleanse your liver.  And this brings up another key to fat loss…the body needs to be working efficiently if you want to burn fat fast…if your organs, especially the kidneys and liver,  are working together in high efficiency, you will find it easier to burn fat!

So keeping yourself hydrated will keep your kidneys operating at a good clip, and your liver will be allowed to do its job of metabolizing stored fat for energy.

The other magical substance is Fiber.  Fiber slows digestion and makes you feel fuller.  This is so important in burning fat and reducing cravings, especially for foods loaded with sugar, and how many calories you end up eating throughout the day, which leads to fat loss.

Great sources of fiber include various whole grain products, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and beans.  These, by the way, are foods that are also rich in other nutrients your body craves naturally…surprise surprise!  Processed foods, however, are poor sources of fiber.  White flour products including regular pasta is in this category.   Also, watch out for high fiber cereals as many of these are also high in sugar.

On top of the fat burning benefits, fiber has been linked to the prevention of various conditions including heart disease, diabetes and cancer.  That’s a one-two health punch to be reckoned with!

So I urge you to put water and fiber at the top of your list of things to put in your body.  If you combine that focus with a diet of nutrient rich foods and a properly conducted resistance exercise program, you’ll be on your way to burning more fat faster, and maximizing your genetic potential for a lean, strong, and healthy body.


My Fat Burning Furnace students are already doing this, and are enjoying all the rewards this lifestyle brings.  Now, it’s your turn to get the most you can out of life and burn fat faster than you might have thought possible.

Rob Poulos is a celebrated fitness author, fat loss expert, and the founder and CEO of Zero to Hero Fitness.  Rob created the world’s most efficient method for fast and permanent fat loss with his “Fat Burning Furnace” system to help those looking to put an end to restrictive fad diets, long boring cardio workouts, and the need for super-human willpower for good.


You are probably anxious to get started on your new body right now, so click the button below to get started right away.  Remember, you have a full 60 days to decide if it’s right for you.  If not, just email me and we’ll issue you a full refund and I’ll thank you for trying it out…it’s that simple!

Fat Burning

Make Your Own Energy

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Solar Energy Guide

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Grateful Dead Business

No, I am not going to depress you with talk about burying the happy dead. That is, also a  big business, but not something I want to spend my time blogging about, especially at my age.

Workingman's DeadI am talking about the Grateful “Management Secrets of the Grateful Dead”, a feature article in the March 2010 issue of the Atlantic Monthly. Read it, gratis, online.  Can you believe that the Grateful Dead are being studied as a highly successful business model?  We are not talking about Elvis or the Beatles here. It is the Grateful Dead.  On March 5th, the New York Historical Society openned the first ever large-scale exhibit of the Grateful Dead Archive.   The entire archive will then be moved to its permanent home at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
In addition to the article, The Atlantic Monthly offers up a sweet, free, little Greatful Dead Memorabilia Video .  It is just a taste of the archive.

From reading the article I came to find out that The Grateful dead have been studied in academic circles for decades. Engineers examined the band’s sophisticated sound system. Medical scholars compared the emergency room reports of Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin fans and found that most Deadheads favored LSD and, believe it or not, Zeppies preferred alcohol. Ethnomusicologists (how is that for an academic word) have offered courses to study in the band’s “vernacular music.”  Barristers have presented evidence that being Deadheads, die hard fans (sorry I couldn’t resist that), could be a sign of  mental illness.

Grateful Dead Cow PalaceThe topic of this article, and the realm of the band’s influence that has garnered the most academic interest, is their business brains. The article claims that the Grateful Dead are one of the most profitable bands of all times, and the achieved that by treating customers and fans fairly, charging prices for concerts that allowed less well to do Deadhead to attend.  They also gave away a lot of souvenirs that are now worth a fortune, just check out their stuff on Ebay.  Customer satisfaction was their motto long before retailers picked it up.

Grateful Dead, customer satisfaction, and Atlantic Monthly…I never thought I would write about all these in one 60s Folks In Their 60s article, but our generation has shined the light on a lot of odd undertakings (there I go again).

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